The odds of HPV vaccine series initiation and completion were significantly higher for adolescents in intervention practices.

HealthDay News — For adolescents, a health care professional human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine communication intervention is associated with improved HPV vaccine series initiation and completion, according to a study published online in JAMA Pediatrics.

Amanda F. Dempsey, MD, PhD, MPH, from the University of Colorado Denver in Aurora, and colleagues examined the effect of a 5-component health care professional HPV vaccine communication intervention.

The trial was conducted in 16 primary care practices in the Denver metropolitan area, with 188 medical professionals and 43,132 adolescents participating.

The intervention comprised an HPV fact sheet library for creating customized information sheets, a tailored parent education website, a set of HPV-related disease images, an HPV vaccine decision aid, and communication training on using a presumptive vaccine recommendation followed by motivational interviewing if parents were resistant to vaccination.

The researchers found that the odds of HPV vaccine series initiation and completion were significantly higher for adolescents in intervention practices (adjusted odds ratios, 1.46 and 1.56, respectively) than those in control practices (9.5- and 4.4-absolute-percentage-point increases, respectively). A greater effect of the intervention was seen for pediatric practices vs family medicine practices and in private practices vs public ones. According to reports from health care professionals, the most used and useful intervention components were communication training and the fact sheets.